Thanks for joining this edition of the PSN Community Spotlight, where it’s your chance to get your PlayStation story featured on the PlayStation.blog. By reviewing the dedicated space on the PlayStation Community Forums, we find compelling PlayStation stories and commentary, then deliver a $50 PlayStation Store voucher code to the winner every week!
We’ve been seeing amazing stories, but a few reminders. Remember, you can submit multiple stories to be considered. It’s not a one shot thing so if your story may not be getting any traction, feel free to PM me in the forums for advice (mochuuu in the forums), or submit another one. And secondly, try to write about something more than just loving PlayStation, or your PlayStation timeline. Whether it’s an amazing PlayStation related story, or commentary on PlayStation today, we want to ensure these posts are diverse week to week; and that can only come from your own tales and commentary on gaming. Remember to read the posting best practices for more info, or have a look at past week’s winners to get a feel of the types of diverse stories that make it to the blog.
This week’s spotlight is from PSN member Imputed7-14. He found a way to combine his passion for gaming and teaching, but not before he had to change a few perspectives on what gaming could be.
Sackboy Goes To School
I am an elementary teacher and I have always looked for ways to encourage my students using every avenue possible. In my classroom we have used toilet paper to experience what it is like to be caterpillars, mimicked Mary Shelly in an annual scary story contest, and created a seven foot model of the sun placing it over a hundred and fifty feet away from our two inch models of the earth just so my students could understand the size and distances we were talking about in class. So when I got LittleBigPlanet 2 last September my mind exploded with ideas to work the PlayStation 3 into my classroom.
I began work late last September in making a mini game that my students could enjoy based around sorting synonyms and antonyms. In January I asked my principal if I could share the project with her. We set up a meeting and I started to get cold feet that she would think it was lame or be disapproving because of the negative stigma around games. My wife encouraged me to be who I am as a gamer and be confident since I had done something original. The day of our meeting my principal sat, listened and watched as I played through the game. She asked what my goal was with doing this. I told her that I had several ideas for skill based levels in math and reading and that I would also like to start a club where the kids could design their own levels using LBP and other games like Modnation on the PS3 and games like LBP and Sound Shapes on the Vita. She told me that she needed to check on something before she gave me the okay to pursue any of those ideas, but that she was pretty impressed with what I had done.
About a month later she called me to the office to let me know that I could use whatever I created in my room and if I could find the funding that I would be permitted start an after school club. What more is she encouraged me to come up with a way to work it into a camp my school is doing over the summer.
At this point my kids have played LBP as a reading station twice and I will likely bring it in for them to enjoy before the summer. They are excited about all things Little Big Planet. In my free time, which is not much, I am crafting some things for them. I am also seeking different local businesses and organizations to see if I can get help funding the club. Nothing has happened yet, but I am hoping that in the near future that my school will learn through Playing, Creating and Sharing. Long live play, y’all.
How have you used gaming in your professional / academic life? Congrats to Imputed7-14, who is now the recipient of a $50 voucher redeemable in the PlayStation Store! Send in your stories here, and feel free to read Imputed7-14’s original post here.
are there any plans to release anymore psone imports. It was my favorite section on the store and made it both easy and affordable to play great japanese games that never made it over here. Since I’m asking for more games I actually put my money were my mouth is and purchased most of the psone imports. I hope it isnt dead since the ps3 is region locked on ps1 games.
Great story! I enjoyed this very much, and he is a very lucky guy that he can do all of that with his students. I love kids and I love LBP, so it sounds like a perfect combination.
Hopefully in the future LBP can be incorporated into schools more, it’s crazy how educational the game can be! Heck, even churches can include it to reenact bible scenes. ;)
That’s awesome i wish this guy was my teacher back in school of course he would have to use the power of sega genesis and super nintendo because those were the top consoles then lol!
yeah, back then video games didn’t have much in the way of mainstream understanding; but now that they’re becoming more and more a part of our culture, it’s only a matter of time before more educational avenues look to them